Photographic-plate holder and developing apparatus



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet l.

. J. LANDSING.

PHOTOGRAPHIG PLATE HOLDER AND DEVELOPING APPARATUS.

No. 562,544. Patented June 23, 1896.

Inventor Jizny Zarwhz'r Witnesses .By hzs flttorney Z W111i; M QM ".PNUYO'UTIQWASIIIGTDNDC (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. LANDSING. PHOTOGRAPHIC PLATE HOLDER AND DEVELOPING APPARATUS.

Patented June 23, 1896.

Inventor Jany Zando'z'r minesses IIDIIW l GIMIAIJQ'OTDUTID WASNIIGTOKDC (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 34 J. LANDSING. PHOTOGRAPHIO PLATE HOLDER AND DEVELOPING APPARATUS.

No. 562,544. Patented June 23, 1896.

Inventor Jczny Zandsz'ry All Ml I GIAWJHGYD-UMOYWASHINGYDI. D C

(No Model.) 4 SheetsSheet 4.

J. LAN DSING. PHOTOGRAPHIG PLATE HOLDER AND DEVELOPING APPARATUS.

Pat-exited June 23, 1896.

Inventor Jany Lancing By his Attorney "will BGRANAM.PHDTO-UTKO.WASHINGION DC.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

JANG LANDSING, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

PHOTOGRAPHlC-PLATE HOLDER AND DEVELOPING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 562,544, dated June 28, 1896.

Application filed January 19, 1895. Serial No. 535,518. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JANG LANDSING, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Photographic Apparatus, of which the following is a specification, that will enable those skilled in the art to which my invention pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in photographic apparatus specially adapted for fieldwork, by means of which the full process of making and developing negatives may be carried 011 out of doors in the full light of day. Its objects are to dispense with the dark room or box usually employed in developing negatives; to so construct and simplify the apparatus that the whole art of producing developed negatives may be carried on out of doors, thus enabling an operatorin the field to determine on the spot whether or not his negatives are satisfactory, and to reduce the necessary apparatus to such proportions that it will be easily transportable, and therefore well adapted for field-work.

It consists, first, of a storage box or magazine for the plates provided at one end with two openings, through one of which the plates may be inserted and through the other withdrawn, the openings being provided with suitable devices for the attachment of a camera plateholder and for the exclusion of light when the plate-holder is not attached. The box is further provided with a device for feeding the plates across from the ingress to the egress sides thereof and a device for projecting the plates one by one from the magazine into a plate-holder when the latteris being charged; second, of a plateholder adapted to being connected to the magazine for the purpose of receiving from or discharging plates into it and also of being connected for the same purpose to a developing chamber or tank which constitutes another feature of my invention; third, of the developing chamber or tank, which is of such construction and small proportions as to be easily manipulated and carried about and which dispenses entirely with the necessity for a dark room or box now commonly used in the process of developing negatives; fourth,

of means for charging the tank with develop ing or other fluids and withdrawing the same from the tank into a suitable storage vessel, and,fifth, of such details of construction of the several parts of the apparatus as are essential or contributory to carrying out the general purposes of my invention.

The accompanying drawings show my invention in the best form now known to me, but many obvious changes within the skill of a good mechanic might be made in the details thereof and some parts substituted for others by slight modification without departing from the spirit of my invention, as set forth in the claims at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved plate-storage box or magazine, partly broken away to illustrate the interior arrangements thereof. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a similar section of aportion of a box on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. i is a perspective sectional view of the lower corner of the magazine at its delivery or egress end. Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view through a portion of the magazine and through a plateholder applied thereto in position to receive a plate from the magazine, such a plate being shown as partly pushed out of the magazine and into the holder. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a plate-holder adapted to be used in connection with my magazine and my developing-tank, portions of the figure being shown as broken away to more clearly illustrate the internal construction of the parts. Fig. '7 is aperspective view of the lower corner of the receiving end of the plate-holder, illustrating the details of construction thereof. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of my developing tank or chamber, the main body of which is made of glass, preferably of a ruby or orange-yellow color. Fig. 9 is an edge elevation of the same. Fig. 10 is a plan or top view of the top or cover of the tank. Figs. 11 and 12 are detailed sectional views showing the positions of the slot in the cover with respect to the opening in the tank, in Fig. 11 the slot being in register with the tank-opening, while in Fig. 12 it is swung away from the tank-opening, as shown in Fig. 10. Fig. 13 is a side elevation of a casing or cover for the tank havmg apertures in both sides through which light may pass and provided on one side'with a projecting hood to shield the eyes of the operator from direct rays of light while watching the process of development in the tank. Fig. 1a is a vertical transverse section of the same on the line 14 14 of Fig. 13. Fig. 1.5 is a plan view of the casing and hood. Fig. 16 is a vertical central section through my developing-tank and the plate-holder applied thereto in such position that the plate or negative which it contains is shown as having passed from the holder into the developing chamber. Fig. 17 is a sectional elevation of my developing-tank containinga plate-negative ready for development and of the apparatus in which the developing fluid is preferably stored, when not in use, in position to charge the tank. Fig. 18 is a similar view showing the position of the devices when the developing fluid is being drawn out of the tank and back into the vessel into which it is stored. Fig. 19 is a sectional view of a modification of my developing-tank.

My improved plate-magazine consists of a rectangular light-proof box A, having at its end openings a and a for the insertion and withdrawal of the plates, respectively. Inside of the box is a loose board or follower B, normally pressed toward the egress side of the box bya spiral spring I), the force of which may be overcome and the follower retracted by a cord or hand-line I), attached to the follower and projecting through the side of the box, as shown in Fig. 2. The ingress-opening a is located sufficiently far from the inner side of the box to provide space in which the follower may lie when retracted beyond it, while the opening a is so located that its side lies in the same plane as the inner side of the box.

The cover A of the magazine is removable for the purpose of loading or charging it with properly-prepared plates, any desired number of which may be placed in front of the springfollower while it is held in its retracted position. These plates may be withdrawn from the magazine, one by one, through the opening a, and when exposed may either be developed at once or returned to the magazine through the opening a, for temporary storage and future development. In order to sepa rate the unexposed plates from the others, which may thus be returned to the magazine, and to guard against the accidental second use of a plate which has once been exposed, I employ a loose board or separator B, which in practice I keep lying back of the unexposed plates, separating them from those which have been exposed. This follower is made thicker than the width of the slot a, so that when all of the unexposed plates have been taken out through said slot the follower will block the passage and thus notify the operator that his stock is exhausted. This guards against mistakes which might occur through failure to keep correct tally, and

which might cause spoiling of an already exposed but undeveloped plate by again subjecting it to exposure in the camera.

lVhen a plate is to be withdrawn, the magazinc is tilted at such an angle that the plate will slide from it by the action of gravity, but the plates are sometimes pressed by the spring so closely together that by reason of the exclusion of the air from between them, or other causes which might make them adhere, the plate to be withdrawn will not start as readily as desired. To overcome this objection, I mount a sliding bar 0 in a groove or recess D 011 the inner face of the box and provide the bar with a toe or angle 0, which, when the bar is in its most retracted position, lies behind the end of the first plate, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. This bar is provided with a handle on the end of a spindle O,projecting from the outer side of the bar and lying in a slot (1 through the side of the box. Another plate or bar C mounted 011 the outer end of the spindle, lies in a recess D on the outer face of the box and covers the slot-opening cl, so as to effectually prevent the admission of light to the magazine.

When the apparatus is in position for the withdrawal of a plate, the handle 0 is pushed down and the toe c, catching behind the first plate, overcomes any resistance to its movement and gives it the initial start necessary to project it from the magazine. Of course when a plate is to be withdrawn from the magazine the pressure of the spring I) may be overcome to any desired degree by pulling on the cord Z), so as to relieve any frictional contact on the moving plate. The passageways ca and a open into recesses or sunken grooves e and e in the end of the magazine. The outer edges of these grooves are provided with guide-ledges ff, formed by plates F, secured to the surface of the magazine.

To prevent the admission of light to the interior of the magazine through the slots a a, I close them by means of slides or gates G, which rest in guide-slots g across the pars sage-ways a and a. These gates enter their guide-slots from the bottom side of the magazine and are provided at their lower ends with angle-pieces G, by means of which they may be manipulated, and in order to give them greater stiffness I prefer to form them with a rib or flange g along one side or both sides, if desired.

My plate-holder for use in the camera consists of a rectangular frame H, provided with the usual dark slides H H, and a groundglass plate H which may be used for focus ing, and between which and one of the slides is provided a grooved channel 7'), for the reception of a negative-plate. An opening 7L through the end of the frame connects with this channel and is closed by a gate G similar in construction and purpose to the gates which close the openings at a in the maga zine. Grooves 71.2 are formed in each side of the frame near that end of it containing the opening h. hen a plate is to be transferred from the magazine to the holder, the latter is applied to the face of the magazine, as indicated in Fig. 5, the grooves 7L2 slipping down over the guide-ledges f on the face of the magazine. The gates G in the magazine and plate-holder are both pulled down, so as to leave a free passage-way from the magazine to the holder. The pressure of the springfollower is then slightly relieved and the first plate given an initial start by the slide-bar O, which is at once returned to its normal position. The combined apparatus is then tilted to such an angle that when relieved from the spring-pressure the plate will gravitate from the magazine into the holder. The gates G in the magazine and holder are then replaced and the holder detached from the magazine by being slipped off its guideledges. By this means a transfer of a plate from the magazine to the holder is effected without exposure to the light. At this stage of the proceeding the plate in the holder is ready for manipulation and exposure in the camera in the usual way. After such exposure the plate may be immediately transferred to myimproved tank or bath, which I will presently describe, and developed there- .in without the aid of the usual dark room or it may be returned to the magazine through the opening (i My developing-tank I consists, preferably, of a narrow glass tank, shaped like a pocket, preferably made in one piece, and composed of ruby or orange-yellow glass or glass of any other color, the light through which will not affect injuriously the negative before or during the process of development. Instead of being made of one piece of glass the tank might, if desired, be constructed with a frame of metal or other material J having plates of colored glass 1 set into its sides, as shown in Fig. 19. At the'top of the tank I secure a frame or ledge J of metal or some other material, so constructed as to leave through it a clear opening into the tank. This framework ispreferably sectoral in shape, one of its sides being parallel with the side of the tank, its other side overhanging and projecting therefrom. Attached to this framework by a pivotbolt j is a swinging sectoral-shaped cover or lid K, provided with an opening 79, which may be swung into register with the opening in the tank, as indicated in Figs. 11 and 16, or out of register with it, as indicated in Figs. 10 and 19. The opening in the cover is provided with guide-flanges 713', similar to the iiangesf, on the magazine and for the same purpose, that is, for the reception of the end of the plate-holder, the grooves 7L2 of which will fit upon these guides. Between the framework and the swinging cover attached thereto I interpose a sheet of rubber 3, which serves as a packing to form a water-tight joint between the frame and the cover when they are clamped togetherby the screws jj, the latter of which lies in a slot it? in the cover. In addition to the opening 71'. in the cover it is also provided with two small orifices from which project pipes L and M, by means of which the developing liquid may be poured into or withdrawn from the tank. One of these tubes, preferably L, is merely to permit the escape of air when the tank is being filled or the admission of air to the tank when the liquid is being drawn off. For this purpose and in order to prevent the admission of direct rays of light I curve this tube over and carry it to a point slightly below the bottom of the tank, as shown. The other tube M, I connect by a flexible pipe m to a bottle or other suitable vessel N, in which I prefer to store the developing liquid when it is not in actual use. The stopper N of this bottle is shown as provided with two tubes 11 and n, extending through it, the former, to which is connected the flexible tube, extending only to the inner side of the stopper, while the latter projects far enough into the vessel to be above the surface of the liquid,when the vessel is inverted,to allow the liquid to run from it into the tank. This latter tube is merely an air-tube, its purpose corresponding to that of the tube L on the tank. At the bottom of the glass tank I place strips of soft rubber or leather R, to serve as a buffer or cushion for the plates which are dropped into the tank from the holder. I prefer to surround my developing-tank with a casin g O,of leather or any other suitable in aterial, having openings 0 in its opposite sides through which the development of the negatives may be watched, and provided on one side with a hood 0, into the open end of which the operator may look, his eyes being thus shielded from the direct rays of light by the hood. This permits a much clearer observation of the developing process than could be obtained without the hood. At one edge of the casing I place a spring clamping device to hold the free end of the air-tube L, for transportation or when the device is not in actual use for developing.

In practicing the art of photography with my invention I proceed as follows: The magazine is first charged with properly-prepared plates, the lid Abeing removed for this purpose. The spring-follower and the loose follower or separating-board are drawn back to the farther side of the magazine and a sulficient number of plates are placed between them and the near or exit side of the magazine. .Vhen a plate is to be used, the plate holder is fitted to the proper opening a of the magazine, the gates or slides G are withdrawn, and the spring-pressure on the plates relieved by a pulling upon the string B, the first plate partly pushed into the holder by the slide-bar C, which is immediately restored to its normal position. The combined apparatus is then tilted to such an angle that the first plate will slide by gravity into the holder when sufficiently released from the springpressure, after which the apparatus is turned back to its horizontal position, the gates closed, and the holder detached, it then being ready for use in the camera. Meantime the other plates have been pressed forward by the spring-follower until that plate, which was originally the second, becomes the first plate of the series remaining in the magazine. Then the plate in the holder has been exposed in the camera, it may either be returned to the magazine, for present storage and future development, or it may be developed at once. In the event of the first course being followed the plate-holder would be applied to the opening a in the magazine, the gates Gin the magazine and holder withdrawn to leave a clear passage from one to the other, and the spring-follower pulled back to leave a space between it and the separating-board, into which space the plate from the holder will gravitate when the apparatus is sufficiently tilted. If, however, the negative is to be developed at once, the plate-holder is applied to the opening 7c in the top of the developingtank, which opening is then swung into register with the mouth of the tank, the gate G in the holder withdrawn, and the negative allowed to gravitate into said tank, the rubber buffer at the bottom of which prevents any detrimental shock of glass against glass. The coveris then swung back to the position shown in Figs. 10 and 17, the developing fluid poured into the tank, and the process of development watched through the colored-glass sides of the tank until it is sufficiently advanced, when the tank is inverted to the position shown in Fig. 18, the fluid drawn off, and water sufficient to wash the negative is introduced in the same manner as was the developing fluid. Preferably the plate will be fixed after being removed from the tank, as it is not advisable to introduce fixing solution in the developingtank, and as the developed negative, when free from developer, will not be injured by exposure. The negative may then be taken from the tank and when sufficiently dried may be used to print or returned to the maga- Z1116.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A negative or plate magazine having ingress and egress openings, a plate-holder having removable light-tight connections for the two said openings, positive means for ejecting the plates through the said egress-opening,

into the said plate-holder, a spring-pressed follower in the said magazine, and means for retracting the said follower to admit plates through the said ingress-opening in front of the said follower; whereby plates may be transferred from the magazine to the plateholder and from the plate-holder to the magazine, and the plate-holder be detached from the said magazine when ready for exposure, substantially as set forth.

2. A negative-plate magazine having an egress-opening at one side and an ingressopening near the other side, a spring-follower to urge the plates toward the exit side of the magazine, means for retracting the follower, and a loose follower or board to separate the unused from the used plates this board being thicker than the width of the egress-opening substantially as set forth.

3. A negative or plate magazine having an egress-opening at one side and an ingressopening near the other side, a spring-follower to urge the plates toward the exit side of the magazine, means for retracting the follower, a loose follower or board to separate the unused from the used plates, and means for preventing the ejection of said follower or board through the said egress-opening, substantially as set forth.

4. The magazine for negatives or plates pro vided with an egress-opening, a sliding plate 0, having a projecting portion or toe o and sliding substantially in the plane of the wall of the said magazine and in line with the said egress, and the spring mechanism acting upon the said negatives or plates pressing them toward the face of the said plate 0, whereby the said plate 0 may act upon the said plates in succession, substantially as set forth.

5. The plate-moving mechanism for lighttight plate magazines or holders, consisting of the operating handle and rod extending through, and moving in a slot or opening in the wall of the said magazine, the plate C socured to the said rod and completely covering the said opening, an outer sliding plate also secured to and moving with the said rod and completely covering said slot or opening, and suitable operating connections upon the inside of the said magazine controlled by the said rod, substantially as set forth.

6. A plate-holder for a camera having ground glass fixed therein, plate-holding guides arranged in front of the said ground glass, the two covering-slides independently removable and means for receiving the plate, substantially as set forth.

7. The reversible plate-holder having a fixed ground-glass and covering slide upon one face i and plate-holdin g guides, and a coverin g-slide upon its other face, and means for removing and replacing the plates therein, substantially as set forth.

8. In a combined plateholder and focusin gscreen, the ground-glass and sensitized plate placed back to back in combination with the dark or covering slide H, substantially as set forth, the said glass being set in fixed relation to one face or side of the said holder, and the said sensitized plate being set in identical relation to the other side or face of the said holder, whereby the camera may be focused upon the ground glass, and the holder after receiving the sensitized plate be then reversed in posi tion to bring the plate in focus.

9. A developingtank provided with a swiveled or adjustable portion or cover, the said cover containing in one portion fluid c011- seams neetion for the said tank and in another portion an opening for the passage of the plates, substantially as set forth.

10. A developing-tank, provided with fluid connections and with an adjustable portion or cover,having a permanently open plate slot or opening therein, the said portion or cover bein g fitted light-tight to the said tank, and the said plate-opening being adjustable by the movement of the said portion, or cover, into and out of communication with the interior of the said tank, substantially as set forth.

11. A developing-tank provided with fluid connections, and with an adjustable portion or cover having a plate-opening therein, the said portion or cover being fitted light-tight to the said tank, and the said plate-opening being adjustable by the movement of the said portion or cover into or out of communication with the interior of the said tank, in combination with a plate-holder having an opening for the passage of the plates, and a light-tight detachable joint or coupling between the said plate-holder, and the said adjustable portion or cover of the said tank, substantially as set forth.

12. A developing tank or chamber for photographic workhaving suitably-colored glass, a sliding cover therefor, having a slot in one portion of the cover, and a pair of tubes in another portion, for the introducing into the tank or withdrawing therefrom, thedevelop ing and other fluids through the said tubes, the said sliding cover being so proportioned that either the said tubes or the said slot may be brought into communication with the interior of the tank without removing the said cover, substantially as set forth.

13. A developing tank or chamber for photographic work having suitably-colored glass portions, a frame secured to the open top of the tank, a sliding cover with suitable apertures for the admission of plates and fluids into the tank, a rubber or other suitable packing between the frame and the cover and screws or other suitable means for clamping or drawing the frame and cover into close contact with the packing substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

11. A developing tank or chamber for photographic work having suitably-colored glass sides, with an opaque casing for the tank having apertures in its opposite sides and a hood or shield surrounding one of said apertures and projecting from the side of the casing substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

15. A developing tank or chamber for photographic work containing suitably-colored glass through which the process of development may be watched, an opaque top to the tank with an aperture through which the plates may be dropped, and cushions or buffers of suitable material at the bottom of the tank substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.

16. In combination with a developing chamber or tank, a closed storage vessel for the developer or other fluid, fluid connection between the said vessel, and the said tank and an air-tube extending into the said vessel to an intermediate point in the said vessel which is above the surface of the said fluid when in position for discharging by gravity, and is also above the surface of the fluid after receiving the fluid by gravity, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, at New York, N. Y., January 17, 1895.

JANG LANDSING. \Vitnesses O. E. BAILEY, O. R. FITCH. 

